If Robbin McMain gets another rent increase, she’s worried she’ll become homeless. McMain lives in a 55-and-older mobile home park in Brookings, Oregon, where she—like many other such residents—owns her mobile home while renting the lot it sits on. This year, McMain and her neighbors all received a 14.6 percent rental increase—the maximum allowed under current state law. For seniors who are on fixed incomes, the increase is squeezing their limited budgets and upending their.
In 2019, Oregon became the first in the nation with statewide rent control. The current law prohibits raising the rent by more than 7% per year, plus inflation. At the time, landlords worried it would only be a matter of time before state lawmakers tried to further lower the cap. They were right. But what most people couldn’t have anticipated was the spike in inflation, which has allowed some landlords to increase rent by more than 14%.
On Tuesday, Oregon renters shared their experiences with extreme rent increase. These residents, along with statewide organizations such as Stable Homes for Oregon Families, are calling on lawmakers to pass Senate Bill 611.